Homicidal Reasoning
by LadyMacaroon
Summary: Sequel to Murder and Deception. This is where TIVA and MCABBY start. Not a sappy love story though. I do not own the characters, and Gibbs will be OOC. R/R please! Rating because I am paranoid!
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks so much for your support and reviews have really kept me going. **

**Obviously I do not own NCIS but I really want to! *displays DiNozzo's puppy eyes***

**Here it is, the SEQUEL for Murder and Deception! Enjoy and R&R!**

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><p>Tony awoke suddenly in the waiting room. He immediately sat up, alert in a way that would have made Gibbs proud. Not knowing why he was awake, he stretched and looked around warily before settling into the armchair again, trying to go to sleep again. He could not however. Ziva's face swam in front of his closed eyes. She looked so vulnerable in the crime scene. He shook the image from his eyes; Ziva could always hold her own.<p>

"Do not worry, you do not need to kill Agent McGee." A familiar crisp Israeli accent was heard by his ear. Tony opened his eyes to see Ziva's smile.

"Zee-vah!" he whispered as he looked at her. She was dressed in hospital scrubs, makeup partially removed and hair in a big fluffy puffball. His face broke into a grin. Ziva slid into the armchair next to him.

"So, did you miss me?" she asked as Tony shuffled up to make room for her.

"N-. Yes." Tony let all his smokescreen of immaturity and goofiness drop as he spoke the truth. Ziva smiled.

"Thank you for being honest with me." Ziva laid her head on his shoulder. Tony felt happiness spread across his entire body. The woman he loved was lying on his shoulder.

"This is just a dream, she would never love you the way you love her." he mused, stroking her hair. It was only after Ziva replied that he realised he had spoken aloud.

"Tony, what did you say?! I had eyes on you ever since I joined the agency as a liaison, but I knew that I was to worthless for you." she spoke in a gentle voice without any trace of the bitterness that was always in her voice. Tony felt euphoric as she pulled him into a gentle hug, giving him a cheeky peck on the lips as she enveloped Tony in her blue scrubs.

"Ziva David, will you be my girlfriend?" Tony whispered. As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it. Ziva was going to absolutely massacre him. She flipped off Tony and raised her hand as to slap him...

"Of COURSE, you idiot!" she squealed, letting her emotionless smokescreen drop as she leapt onto him yet again.

"Okay, Zee, take it easy or Gibbs is gonna..." Tony was cut off by Gibbs himself.

"Gibbs gonna do what, DiNozzo?" he demanded. A trace of a smile could be heard, but you needed to have a good ear.

"Nothing." Tony's face broke out into a sheepish grin.

"Rule twelve, Tony." Gibbs started to say.

"Nooo! No headslaps, please, boss! I love Ziva!" Tony for some odd reason started going nuts; Gibbs suspected it was because Tony thought he was going to make them break up.

"Naw, on the contrary, you guys look kinda cute together." The third smokescreen in an hour was dropped, as Gibbs let go of his gruffness.

"Really, boss?" Tony looked up hopefully.

"Yup. And it was about time you guys got together, I'm kinda sick of your puppy eyes at each other and denying the fact when McGee or Abby point it out." Gibbs remarked.

"I am sorry, Gibbs." Ziva looked ashamed. "Maybe we could have gotten together sooner if I did not deny it for so long."

"All right, it's one o'clock in the morning, now Ziva, go back to bed before one of the docs come chasing you. And DiNozzo, I never said you and Ziva were cute together." Gibbs stood up with a grin. He knew that Tony would boast about Gibbs saying he and his new girlfriend looked cute together, and he had just burst his bubble.

"Not even..." Tony began.

"No. Unless you want to be stuck on desk duty for the rest of your life."

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><p><strong>AN: So, waddya think? Sorry I have not updated in a while, just managed to surface from the burden that is homework!**

**R/R please!**

**xx**

**Jeanne**


	2. Chapter 2

"All right, Agent David, you are clear to go. Just get someone to wake you up every three to four hours, for two days. And no work as well, until Dr. Mallard clears you to be fine." Dr. Cooper handed Ziva a duffel bag of clothes that Tony and Gibbs had cleverly decided to bring.

"Wait, Dr. Cooper. Could I speak to Gibbs for a minute? I have something on my mind." she murmured as she pulled out a shirt and cargo pants from the bag, changing swiftly as the doctor turned around and pressed a button on his pager. Seconds later, Gibbs appeared, holding a absurdly large bunch of white tulips and jasmines.

"From Tony. Whats up, Ziver?" inquired Gibbs as Ziva's face broke in a grin. She was touched that Tony had listened to her little remarks; how she loved white jasmines, tulips were precious to her, that kind of thing.

"Nothing. I just wanted to thank you. And Ducky, and Jimmy, Tony, Abby, McGee. Thank you." Ziva sniffed the flowers appreciatively.

"On the behalf of everyone, you're welcome. By the way, Alex sent you this." Gibbs pulled out a slim wooden box. Ziva opened it, gasping in delight. It was a knife kit; complete with different knife sharpening stones, oil, cloth, the works.

"Tell him I said thank you." Ziva closed the case and slipped it into her bag.

"Naw, tell him yourself. You're clear to go." Gibbs laughed at the childish grin that Ziva flashed at him as she leapt off the bed.

"Thanks!" Ziva stepped into her shoes.

"You're welcome." Gibbs picked up the duffel bag. He opened the door for the woman as she walked down the corridor.

"You know, how nice it is to be rid of the stupid scrubbings." Ziva remarked.

"Scrubs. Scrubbings is something else." Gibbs corrected. Ziva all of a sudden felt very brave.

"You know Gibbs, between me and you, you are the father I never had." she whispered shyly, looking up at him with her beautiful chocolate brown orbs. Gibbs felt a strong sense of protection; not unlike the time when Tony was in Bethesda with plague, when she herself was locked up in Somalia. He felt a great anger for Eli David; he had taken away the innocence of Ziva far too young, causing her to be so defensive even though she was virtually invincible.

"Thank you, Ziva." Gibbs let the woman sink into his arms, giving her a quick peck on the forehead.

"Now, lets get out of here, you smell like disinfectant." Gibbs smirked cheekily, leading the Israeli into the waiting room.

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><p>"Okay, now I don't want Ziva staying alone in her apartment. DiNozzo, since you are Ziva's partner, stay with her. I want a sitrep every three-four hours. Alex, you're still staying with me, but you can go and visit Ziva whenever, as long as you tell McGee or myself, as Ziva's is just two blocks away. But I want an adult with you at all times. And the Director put us off rotation for a week, so we got some time off." Gibbs ordered as he threw forty dollars onto the clipboard and snatched up a plastic bag.<p>

"On it, boss! Come on, Ziva." Tony looked very happy to be staying with Ziva that night. Alex followed after the rambunctious couple, then followed by a unusually subdued Abby and McGee, with Gibbs and Ducky taking up the rear.

"By the way, DiNozzo, I got Ziva some painkillers just in case."Gibbs handed the bag to Tony.

"Now Ziva my dear, if you feel dizzy, sick or have a bad headache please call me." Ducky said firmly as he strode towards the couple.

"All right, Ducky." Tony answered for her as he slipped his hand around her waist. Ziva snuck a quick peck on the lips as Tony lifted her, bridal style and deposited her in her red Mini, with Ziva laughing all the way.

"Young love, oh how sweet." Ducky had a fond smile upon his kind, wrinkled face.

"Yeah? If you can count those two 'young'." Gibbs answered back cheekily, whipping out his car keys.

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><p>As soon as Alex and Gibbs arrived at Gibbs' house, Gibbs phoned the couple at Ziva's apartment.<p>

"Hello?" Ziva's happy voice sounded from the other end.

"Ziva, I want a sitrep from DiNozzo."

"Yes Gibbs." Ziva handed the phone to Tony.

"DiNozzo!"

"'sup Boss!" Gibbs could sense the smug grin on Tony's end.

"Sitrep!"

"We just had a entertaining forty minutes." Tony sounded distracted.

"OK. Keep me updated." Gibbs ended the call.

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><p>Meanwhile, at Ziva's apartment, she and Tony were having an amazing time watching a movie. Well, it wasn't the movie that they enjoyed, but it was the comfort of being huddled underneath a big, fluffy blanket with each other that made them happy, as well as Tony's secret hot chocolate recipe.<p>

"Bah, these two are just making in again, Tony. This is boring." Ziva remarked, as she took a sip of the creamy liquid.

'Making out, Zee-vah. The term is making out." Tony corrected as he pulled her into a long kiss.

"Who cares, they are a movie, we are real." Ziva dragged him off the couch and into the bedroom. They were so engrossed in kissing each other that they did not hear Gibbs' ringing them.

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><p>"Dammit!" swore Gibbs as he slammed his finger on the redial button.<p>

"Gibbs, are you alright?" Alex inquired as he stepped into the kitchen.

"No, call McGee and tell him to trace Ziva and DiNozzo's phones!" he barked, worried that some other shenanigan may have happened during his absence. As he punched the button again, he could hear Alex talking to McGee in low tones. As soon as the boy took the phone away from his ear, Gibbs raced over to the living room.

"They are both at Ziva's apartment." Alex announced. Seconds later, Gibbs was racing up the stairs, and came down with a small pouch and his gun. Fishing his car keys out of the bowl by his door, he threw the pouch to Alex, who caught it. Soon, they were bundled higgledy-piggledy into Gibbs' car, and were speeding down the street.

After about five minutes of dangerous driving, they pulled up against an apartment block.

"Check the pouch, and take out the key that says Ziva." Gibbs ordered as they scrambled into the elevator and hit the fifth floor for Ziva's apartment. They sprinted out of the lift, and found her place, slipping the key in. On the count of three, Alex opened the door, and Gibbs gave his characteristic yell of 'hands up, FEDERAL AGENTS!'. Alex went left into the kitchen/bar and Gibbs headed off towards the hallway.

"Clear." Alex's voice sounded.

"Cle-" Gibbs' voice was cut off with a yell. Alex raced towards him, only to collapse in laughter.

Ziva David had ran out of the room and rugby tackled Gibbs towards the floor, followed by a not-so-dressed Anthony DiNozzo.

"David, I'm glad that you're OK, but please. I think I'm too old for rugby." Gibbs groaned, as Ziva, Alex and Tony began laughing even harder.

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><p><strong>Heya, sorry I did not update for a while, I was super busy I had examinations and then I got caught up with homework. The next few updates should come soon (hopefully); keep fingers crossed?<strong>

**And if you review, I send you a virtual cookie!**

**xx**

**Jeanne**


	3. Chapter 3

After Gibbs had brushed himself off and regained his dignity, he and Alex left the apartment with disposable cups full of black coffee and hot chocolate, only to find that Gibbs' car was being towed away.

"Hey! Thats' my car!" yelled Gibbs hotly, chasing the tow truck.

"Well, so what, it was parked in the middle of the street Mister." drawled the woman who was towing the truck.

"Thats' _Special Agent_, to you." Gibbs retorted, flashing his badge. After a glimpse of it, the woman jumped out of the truck eyes widened, struck Gibbs in the face and leapt into a nearby parked Toyota, which had the keys in the engine (stupid people who go out drinking, keep their car keys in, then pass out somewhere in the garden). She slammed her foot onto the pedal, zooming off.

"Go take the chains off!" commanded Gibbs as he threw away his coffee and began helping Alex drag the towing chains off. A plasticky crunch under his foot made him look twice. There was an ID card, which Gibbs picked up its pieces and slid them into the spare evidence bag he always kept on his person, making sure the writing was legible.

"Done." announced Alex as he clambered into the front seat, Gibbs hurriedly slipping into the drivers' seat. Gibbs stamped onto the gas, haring in the direction the sedan went.

"Please check the ID card and if you remembered the plates of the car, tell McGee to put out a BOLO in the tri-state area." Gibbs swore as he neatly decapitated a bush.

"Okay, the writing is not exactly top-standard, but the ID says Sarah Marie Colman" Alex fumbled to read the writing whilst trying not to fly into the windshield.

"Do you remember the car plate?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes, DZ-1894 (**A/N: I do not live in DC so...)**" Alex replied promptly, neatly taking Gibbs' phone out of his hand. "Let me dial."

"Yeah, I reckon that would be bett- aaargh!" Gibbs flicked the steering wheel vigorously; taking the next corner on two wheels.

"Hello? Tim McGee? Yes, this is Alex. No we are not dead, it's just Gibbs driving. Yeah and he wants a BOLO in the tri-state area for a car plate of DZ-1984 and Sarah Colman. Blonde, about five foot eight, green eyes. Yup, thats' it. Hang on, Gibbs wants a word." Alex passed the phone to Gibbs.

"Thank you. Now please sit tight, this is gonna be a hell of a ride. McGee, get the Computer Forensics team to keep an eye on the BOLO. I need you and Balboa's team to get yourselves out here and try to roadblock her. I'm on her tail. Yes I recognise you got a hit. Right. I will try and car-chase her down to Base. Now I'm gonna get me a com unit, triangulate it to yourself and the other cars." Gibbs punched the ''end call' button and chucked the phone into the cup holder on the dashboard. Spying Colman veering off left, Gibbs turned off right.

"McGee, get a roadblock down on 7th, by the coffee shop. You have about three minutes." Gibbs yelled as he spun the steering wheel crashing the hindquarters of the car into a large poplar tree growing on the curb. A faint 'on it, boss' could be heard.

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><p>Exactly three minutes later, McGee and Balboa's joint efforts managed to roadblock Sarah and force her into the back of the NCIS van.<p>

"McGee, Balboa, take her into base, and get two agents on standby outside her interrogation room. I will deal with her in the morning." Gibbs commanded after the agents had cleaned up. "Balboa, your second job is to get the car into Evidence, and McGee, get Abbs to start on it. And get her a few Caf-Pow!s while you're at it." Gibbs handed McGee a twenty and climbed back into his canary yellow car.

"So, Alex, we have lets' say eight hours till we need to report in for work. Do you mind to hang out with Abby or McGee today?" Gibbs offered, knowing that the paperwork that Tony and Ziva had held back on doing was not going to get any more interesting than watching paint dry.

"Yes thanks a lot." Alex replied gratefully. He really disliked paperwork.

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><p>Eight hours later, the MCRT were stationed at their desks, keying away at their computers; Tony and Ziva doing paperwork, McGee hacking into something or the other again. Alex was with Abby in the evidence locker, listening to her rambunctious chattering about something or the other. Glancing at the trash can, he mentally kicked himself for letting Abby have five, no six Caf-Pow!s.<p>

"Hey, Abbs, ya got something?" queried Gibbs as he marched in carrying a Caf-Pow!. Alex groaned softly; Abby was going to be even more loud, and he was pretty tired from the excitement of the car chase.

"Yup. I pulled some prints, and I also found us a gun. Not used yet, though I can pull some prints from that too. And, I have something for Ziva." Abby produced a black bag with the Mossad crest on it.

"Thanks Abbs. Ziva will be here shortly." Gibbs pecked her on the cheek, handed her the caffeinated drink and went on his way. Soon enough, a slightly rumpled Ziva came running into the locker.

"I am sorry, Abby that I am so late. Me and Tony got caught down in something." she explained breathlessly.

"Caught up, Ziva." Tony appeared from the doorway after his girlfriend, cheeks pink with some shiny lip gloss on it.

"Oh my God, you guys are now girlfriend and boyfriend? Yay, Tony, Ziva, we can call you TIVA now, and why do you have lipstick on your face? I don't think I need to run a test to know who's it is but Ziva I found this and I think you may wanna look at it right now, Tony you are so lucky you have Ziva you guys are gonna be so cute!" Abby jumped up in the air with a squeal.

"Glad to see you're excited Abbs." Gibbs remarked as he appeared behind the car.

"Yup I am so pleased! Ziva and Tony got BFed and GFed. And do not 'rule twelve' this, Gibbs, this is so cute!" Abby began to parade around the room, pulling a startled Alex into a huge tight corset of an embrace.

"Yep. Okay Ziva, what've you got?" Gibbs inquired.

"Hmm, remember the knife we found when we acquired Alex? May I see it?" Ziva inquired. Abby went and grabbed it, handing it to the Israeli woman.

"Hmm..." Ziva snapped on a pair of gloves and laid the knife on the table, followed by five others in the black bag. "Yes indeed this is Mossad, these are the standard knives that the higher ups of Mossad have. Like your SCORPIA agent, Levi Kroll. He is quite the man at Mossad." Ziva replied, placing the knife back in the evidence box, jogging to the back and collecting another one. She scrawled on it in Hebrew and then wrote something in English on the bottom, when something hit her.

"Abby, these knives are freshly oiled, and the oil oddly enough smells like the sandalwood and rose oil that Alex has given to me. Would it be convenient to run some tests?" Ziva asked.

"Sure, but what can I compare it with?" Abby asked enthusiastically.

"One of my own knives. And this oil." Ziva slid a series of knives from her person and pulled out a large bottle of scented knife oil.

"Oooh! This is gonna be awesome!" Abby picked up one of Ziva's less scary knives and scampered away. Ziva put the knives back into their respective holsters.

"I miss my knife already." grumbled Ziva as she followed Abby into the elevator.

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><p><strong>Thank you so much for reading!<strong>

**R/R? (reviews keep me going)**

**xxxxx**

**Jeanne**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, its Jeanne. So sorry for the horrendously late update, and I hope that some more will be up soon. My 'excuse' is that I was studying for finals and I'm failing French (which is compulsory) and I suck at it anyway... On with the story!**

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><p>"Okay, McGee, I need you to cross reference any emails from that SCORPIA-Mossad guy, Levi Kroll or something. After you pull up the emails, any Hebrew you have any trouble with, speak to Ziva. DiNozzo, escort Sarah to the interrogation room, I'll be there. Alex, would you like to stay with Abby for a while? I believe she brought Jethro into work today." Gibbs commanded, all of the team leaving the evidence locker and scurrying into the elevator.<p>

"Um, Gibbs, who exactly is Jethro? He isn't you is he?" Alex asked tentatively, remembering that Gibbs' middle name was Jethro as well.

"Nop, Jethro is Abby's pet German Shepard. I don't get why she named him after me, but you know Abby." Gibbs winked before stepping into the solitude of the elevator. His peacefulness was interrupted by the opening of the elevator door. Walking out with a look of icy cold steel in his eyes, Gibbs stepped into the muggy not-so-peaceful interrogation room.

"Colman." Gibbs spoke the word clearly.

"Gibbs." Sarah Colman brushed the curly red hair out of her eyes as she squared up at Gibbs. "Why am I here?"

"You know why." Gibbs began to walk around the small dimly lit room, tapping the folder in his hands each time his foot hit the floor.

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><p>Inside the Observation Suite, Tony and Ziva were having the time of their life. Ziva had already ditched McGee; leaving a Hebrew dictionary on his desk before grabbing her Berry Mango Madness and joining her new boyfriend in the suite.<p>

"Hey Zee, I know you're my sweetheart and all, but just this once, I bet that Gibbs will break that woman in under thirty minutes. 20 bucks." Tony's arm snaked around Ziva and pulled her close.

"20 bucks? Betting low today, my little hairy butt." Ziva replied, pecking him on the cheek, leaving a hint of pale pink lip gloss.

"Fine, just for you my sweetie, 100 dollars, and a candlelit dinner, wether you win or lose." Ziva didn't reply, just enveloped Tony in a passionate kiss that replaced all the 'yeses' the world could give.

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><p>Five minutes of strolling and some growling later, Gibbs decided to begin the interrogation.<p>

"Colman, why did you kill Randall Somerset, Callie Somerset and Petty Officer Anderson?" Gibbs decided that any more beating about the bush would make him go crazy.

"What is it to you?" Colman hissed.

"I need to know why you did this." Gibbs kicked out a chair and sat down, pulling pictures from the murder scenes out of the folder.

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><p>"Hey Tony, remember the case with Gibbs' ex-wife?" Ziva questioned.<p>

"Hell yeah, that was funny." he replied.

"This is giving me a sense of veda ju." Ziva spoke up, mixing up the idioms as usual.

"Deja vu, dear."

"Whatever. But she reminds me of that Stephanie woman."

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><p>"Fine! You'll break me sooner or later." The defiance had disappeared from her bright hazel eyes, and was replaced by sadness and grief.<p>

"Go ahead." Gibbs folded his arms and took a gulp of the coffee that was always available near him.

"It started back when I was in high school. Me and Randy were dating for about four years. We already began saving up to get married in a joint bank account as we were both Seniors. We were madly in love. It was the happiest five years of my life. Until that Callie came along.

"She arrived that one day in those beautiful expensive clothes from the mall, and then Randy just stepped away from me and just hooked up with her straight away. He kept saying that he still loved me when I confronted him about it, but the next day he just ignored me and went off with Callie. First it was just at the McDonalds near school but that escalated up to fancy candlelit dinners.

"Four months later, he confronted me. He said he would never stop loving me but what he had with Callie was 'special'. Then he told me that he had taken the bank account with _our _money and taken his share. He then handed me a check. It had the money I put into the bank. The balance, which used to be nine hundred dollars was now up to three thousand. He had put in some money that he just made. He never did this for me." Sarah's voice wobbled.

"Then they got married, and just to make me feel worse, Callie made me the Maid of Honour. Many other had wanted this position, but she insisted that I was 'special'," Sarah spat the word. "She turned my only friends against me just to hurt me. Then Randy said that 'Callie was special, more special than any other girl he ever met, and that breaking up with his ex was the best thing ever'. If that didn't hurt me enough, they went to the exact honeymoon destination that Randy and I had planned out. And then, to make matters worse, they bought a beautiful house in England, again something I always pined for, and sent me pictures to tick me off." she sobbed, cradling her face in her hands.

"So you killed them." Gibbs' voice was hard. "Out of revenge."

"Yes. I killed Randy first. It was absolutely lovely; I beat him till he begged for mercy, cut him with the precious knives that I bought for us. I inflicted only half the pain that I felt, and I was going to do more but his heart gave out. So I put on a balaclava, and forced her to watch the Commander. Then I called you." Sarah's sobs were gone, and there was a crazed glint in her eyes.

"What about Petty Officer Anderson?" Gibbs pressed on.

"Oh him. I didn't mean to kill him, but he tried to save Randy, and he saw my face. So I had to get rid of him, fast. I slit his throat with a knife and stabbed him till he was dead. Then I burned my clothes and gloves in the barbecue pit next door. Nobody suspected." Sarah folded her arms.

"And Callie? Why did you kill her? She already suffered." Gibbs pointed out, gulping the last of his coffee which was now tepid.

"Oh that bitch? I wanted her to feel pain, to show it. She never showed how much it hurt, and I wanted to make her scream. Scream and scream hard. Beg for mercy that I wouldn't give her. I wanted her to know how it felt. How it felt to be betrayed." Sarah shouted, frustrated.

"Well I'm sorry for your feelings," Gibbs drawled sarcastically. "But you tortured and killed two members of the USMC and are facing two life sentences without parole in the USA and England. Don't forget, Randall Somerset is an MI6 liaison. Furthermore, you also tortured and killed the wife of a Marine, and that would be... murder. Do not reason with me; you have committed murder, and tried to deceive NCIS. Your hearing will be scheduled for tomorrow; Agent Balboa will be tasked with escorting you there. We have all the evidence we need." Gibbs ended the conversation and strode out of the room.

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><p>Back in the observation suite, Tony and Ziva had forgotten about the bet. They each clutched a large sheaf of paper covered in their various handwritings; Ziva's neat script and Tony's chicken scratch writing. Gibbs burst into the room whilst they were just shuffling the papers, comparing notes.<p>

"DiNozzo, David, go get a break. Get me a large black coffee, Abbs' Caf-Pow! and a can of coke or something. Plus whatever you want." Gibbs pulled out a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket.

"Gibbs, what do we do with these?" Ziva pocketed the twenty and gestured towards the large pile of paper.

"Give them to me, and I'll go find Alex. Elf Lord could do with some work." Gibbs marched out of the room laden with the notes.

"Cool, we get a thirty minute break at most." Tony looped his arm over Ziva's shoulder and pressed the elevator button.

**A/N:**

**Thx for bearing with me**

**xxx **

**Jeanne**


	5. Chapter 5

"So, Ziva, we have thirty minutes." Tony clicked the button on the elevator to go down.

"Indeed. More than enough time to get a large cup of coffee for Gibbs." Ziva stood with her back to Tony, absentmindedly combing her fingers through her hair.

"So what do you propose we do?" queried Ziva, turning around with a small smile on her face. Tony just winked, and flipped the OFF switch on the elevator panel. He grabbed her in his arms, holding her close. He pulled her into a kiss.

"This." Tony answered Ziva's question after they broke apart. They leaned in again, but mid-kiss, a loud rapping on the elevator doors startled them.

"Oi! Can you open this elevator for thirty seconds so I can get into the damn elevator. I'm about to drop a bunch of case files on my foot!" A voice shook them out of their reverie. Ziva flipped the switch on. The elevator door opened, to reveal...

"McGee and Abby! What the heck?!" Tony smoothed his hair and straightened his tie. "I thought it was someone else!"

"Well, Timmy and I put a webcam into the elevators after The Pacci Incident and we adapted the Barry Smiles bear to another voice." Abby chirped, she and McGee giggling at the couple's annoyed looks.

"Okay, so whats' up?" Tony enquired, keen to change the subject.

"Well, Abby and I started dating a couple days ago..." Tim began, but was cut off by Abby's excited babbling.

"...and I thought we should go out on a double date!" Abby shouted excitedly. Her shout turned many heads.

"Wow!" Ziva smiled, lacing her hands into Tony's.

"I mean, only if you're okay with it..." Tim added as he saw Tony and Ziva's uncertain looks. Abby pouted, which sealed the deal.

"Sure, tuesday okay?" Tony agreed.

"Sweet! Abbs and I will find a restaurant and reserve for six, maybe seven at the latest." Tim tapped into his smartphone.

"Good idea, you four need a break." Gibbs' voice popped out from nowhere. "Go on that double date."

"You gonna join us, boss?" Tony asked bravely, knowing that the question was on the tip of everyone's tongue.

"Yeah okay, if I bring Alex. We'll sit away from you guys to get some privacy though. The kid needs a good meal." Gibbs replied.

"Hey, Gibbs, why don't you bring Jenny? I mean Director Shepard. I know you guys have been dating!" squealed Abby loudly. Tony cringed, Ziva looked shocked and Tim looked like sinking into the floor.

"How... how... how the _hell _did you know that?!" Gibbs stuttered, his face completely red.

"Easy. We had keystroke loggers installed when that pesky hacker hacked into NCIS and Timmy and I were doing some background checks! We saw some love letters on Jenny's computer and we thought it was a terrorist, remember when Tony got SWAKed by that crazy woman, so we read it. Jeez, you write some hot stuff, Gibbs!" Abby rambled cheerfully.

"You... little... Fine. I will bring Jenny!" Gibbs steamed loudly.

"Bring Jenny _where_?" Jenny herself had stuck her head out of her office and was now strutting down the catwalk.

"Oh, um, you know. A double date turned triple with my team. Its no biggie if you don't want to go." Gibbs was now blushing crimson.

"Oh. Sure! Text me the details later, kay?" Jenny turned back into her office, a beaming smile upon her face.

"Now, lets ALL go get some coffee and worry about this date on... Tuesday 1830 correct?" Gibbs smirked, looking at the shocked look on Abby's face.

"How did.. how did you know?!" she spluttered madly.

"I have my ways." The elevator closed.

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><p>AN: So sorry for lack of updating I have finals in May and I'm failing German... dammit.

Updates will be erratic, please review *pout*?

xxxxxxx

Jeanne


	6. Chapter 6

Ziva stood in her apartment, hastily ruffling through her closet for something acceptable to wear.

"Oh my god, what if he thinks I'm dumb, or stupid or slutty? And then he dumps me?!" Ziva mumbled as she pulled out outfit after outfit in a panic. After she had pulled out all the articles in her closet, she began digging into the heap of clothes onto her bed. After about half an hour, Ziva settled on a grey sweater-dress with a thick black belt and black leggings, along with a pair of dressy black heels that she swore she would never wear again after the incident where she and Agent Lee had to pretend to be fan of Thom E. Gemcity. Slipping a knife into her black purse, she settled herself onto the couch in her living room to wait for Tony.

Meanwhile, Tony himself was having some trouble picking an outfit for himself. He had thought it would be easy; he wore tuxes a lot. But he needed this to be perfect. He took nearly as long as his significant other to choose; finally pulling on a sleek black suit with a crimson tie. He had read somewhere that red turned women on. After a final check in the mirror, he exited his apartment and settled into his car, whereupon he drove to Ziva's apartment to pick her up.

"Madamoiselle, I believe I am the escort?" Tony rang the doorbell. When Ziva opened the door, he presented her with a rose. Sweeping the elated woman into his arms, he deposited her tenderly into the car, driving off to the swanky French restaurant that the men decided to treat their ladies to. When Tony strolled in with Ziva on his arm, he spotted McGee and Abby standing apprehensively by the entrance. They looked sweet together; Abby's black dress with red belt complemented McGee's white suit and red bow tie, á la Ducky. As the quartet advanced into the restaurant, Jenny, Gibbs and Alex were spotted sitting at a table for seven. To their surprise, Jenny was chatting to Vice Director Vance and Alex happily laughing with his children, Kayla and Jared. Gibbs was just sitting there quietly, silent as usual.

"McGee! DiNozzo! Over here!" Gibbs called.

"Evening, Agents DiNozzo, David and McGee. Evening, Abigail." Vance looked up from his chatting to greet the agents and shake hands. He was surprised at how cute all the couples looked together.

"Evening, Director." The quartet chorused. There was an awkward silence as everyone sat down.

"So, what's for dinner?" Tony broke the silence as a waiter wearing a posh black suit placed dishes in front of them.

* * *

><p>After the first course, Alex had to remind himself not to eat too much, as there was more to come. But it was really good, he had to admit, even though he wasn't exactly a salad person. He forced himself to put down his knife and fork, so he could sample some more of the delicacies.<p>

Sometime during the main course, Alex had migrated over to the Vance table and Leon and Jackie had pulled up chairs. Now, eating fillet mignon, the group of agents were chatting idly. Alex continued to answer the many questions coming from the Vance children. A waitress walked by, accidentally knocking over Alex's tea.

"I'm so sorry! Let me get you another one." She picked up the glass and strolled away, ignoring Alex's feeble protests of it being fine. She returned a moment later with a fresh mug of steaming tea.

"Apologies, sir." She curtseyed and marched to her position at the boxes of cutlery. As she turned to push her hair behind her ear, she whispered a single word into her bracelet. Smirking, she picked up a stack of menus and greeted a new couple waiting at the doors gazing at the ice sculpture.

Alex was just nibbling at his steak, feeling extremely full. He really did enjoy the company of the Vance kids. He rose the cup to his lips, taking a sip and inhaling the fresh smell of the tea. It really was kind of nice being in the States. He fell into a dreamy reverie until a beeping from his pocket made him jump.

"Sorry, text from Tom. I'll see what he wants, give me a second." Alex whipped out the phone, letting a small smile escape as he read the text.

**Hey Alex! Heard u had 2 stay wiv a bunch of ppl frm the usa. How is it? txt back and let me knw ur alive. g2g I'm stuck in summer school cos I kind of failed maths... And btw I finally asked Britney out but it didnt go well.**

"What did he say?" inquired Kayla, both she and her brother giggling at the British boy's antics.

"Tom sounds pretty cool." Jared chimed in, looking up from his plate of steak.

"Kids, eat your veg." Jackie admonished as she came over and inspected the Vance kids' plates.

"Done mom." Kayla replied, showing her mum her empty plate.

"Jared..." Jackie warned, sitting back down with the adults and continued to chat.

* * *

><p>Many hours later, Gibbs finally rose.<p>

"Sorry to interrupt, but we all have work tomorrow and its gone ten. I say we call it a day." Gibbs gave Jenny a tender kiss before leaving the restaurant with Alex. The Vance family followed closely behind. Behind them were the four 'young lovers', gossiping and holding hands. They said their goodbyes in the parking lot. Alex couldn't see much in the dark, but he could tell many kisses were exchanged.

He and Gibbs piled into the Dodge with Jenny calling shotgun. Gibbs drove a little more normally (if you could call it that) and dropped Jenny off before turning around to Gibbs' house.

"Goodnight." Gibbs entered his bedroom and closed the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey its Jeanne here... Soz about the lack of updates... Another chapter shall be up soon (hopefully) as I'm on Spring Break but I need to study for Finals... <strong>

**Sorry**

**Jeanne xx**


	7. Chapter 7

"Alex? Wake up. We gotta go to NCIS. Got some cold cases we need to sort out." Gibbs rapped on Alex's door smartly.

"Coming..." Alex groaned, disentangling himself from the sheets. Gibbs felt a bit confused; Alex was usually up and about by six thirty. It was now seven fifteen and he had not yet risen, which was odd. Gibbs dismissed the odd, or hinky feeling in his gut as just having a late night out. Gibbs padded down the stairs and started up his coffee machine and padded back up to get dressed. As he was pulling on his jacket he ran into Alex in the hallway. Gibbs jumped when he saw the boy's appearance. He had a pale sweaty face with dark rings around his eyes. His cheeks were flushed and beads of sweat were gathering on his forehead.

"You want some breakfast?" Gibbs inquired, not knowing what to do. Alex always seemed so... formidable. He had looked through Alex's medical records and he was never ever sick. Well unless you count the 'illnesses' that MI6 had cooked up.

"I'm all right, thanks. I'm still full from last night." Alex pulled on a jacket and stumbled down the stairs. Now Gibbs was really worried. He had plenty of experience with teenage boys and they were always hungry. He again dismissed the feeling and poured himself a large cup of coffee. Downing it in one go, Gibbs shrugged and slid his gun into his holster. Gibbs then snatched up his car keys and stalked out of the door, his blank mask of a face not betraying his inner emotions.

* * *

><p>The drive to NCIS was quiet; each member in the car lost in their own thoughts. Gibbs drove a bit slower than usual, seeing as the boy next to him appeared to be sleeping. After a good twenty minutes they pulled up into the Navy Yard. Alex, realising that the car had drew to a stop, immediately woke up.<p>

"You OK?" Gibbs asked questioningly.

"Fine." Alex replied with a shiver. Gibbs had had enough of this 'fine' act. He looked... bad. Correction, he looked even worse than DiNozzo when he had had the plague. Gibbs peeled off his sweater that he wore underneath his coat and handed it to the boy. Surprisingly, he offered no protest. Gibbs and Alex got out of the car and marched/stumbled to the Bullpen.

* * *

><p><em>In the Bullpen<em>

"Hmmm..." Tony sat with his feet on the table.

"What now, Tony?" Ziva snapped irritably, typing on her keyboard.

"I'm wondering if I can get reimbursed-" Tony was cut off by Gibbs marching in and giving him a large headslap.

"No, DiNozzo." Gibbs plopped down into his desk chair.

"But you didn't know what I wanted to be reimbursed for!" whined Tony.

"I don't care what, just no. Ziver, go and arrange for Colman to be arrested, and keep checking SCORPIA. McGee, analyse the footage from the interrogation. DiNozzo keep working. I need to go meet Alex. I sent him to Duck." Gibbs replied.

"Why?" Tony questioned. "Something wrong?"

"Yep." Gibbs and he set off to Autopsy.

* * *

><p>"Gimme something, Duck." Gibbs entered Autopsy only to find Ducky shouting into the phone, Alex lying on one of the autopsy tables with a set of scrubs for a pillow and a flustered Jimmy flicking through files. A large warning klaxon sounded obnoxiously in the background.<p>

"... well excuse me, miss receptionist, but I believe we need to have an airlocked room at Bethesda. Yes, NCIS related. Madam, we have had the first in what could be a series of unidentified biological attacks. Our forensic analyst, Miss Scuito, has already begun to run blood tests no thanks to your slow service. It has been identified as an aerosol pathogen. Was this necessary?" Ducky slammed the phone down.

"Oh, Jethro." Ducky turned to Gibbs with a sad look in his kind eyes.

"What happened, Duck?" Gibbs queried.

"Young Mister Rider has unfortunately been infected by an airborne biological pathogen sometime within the past twelve hours. Abigail is processing blood and other samples now." Ducky replied gravely.

"Why is he asleep? Could you wake him so that I can ask him if anything was out of the ordinary." Gibbs pressed the matter.

"Apologies, my dear friend, but Mr. Rider passed out about five minutes ago." Ducky replied gravely. Gibbs was shell shocked.

"What're you waiting for? Call Bethesda." Gibbs yelled.

"I did. Jethro, good man, did Mr Rider eat anything after the meal last night?" Ducky asked. "Are you showing any symptoms of this mysterious disease?"

"No, I'm fine. And no he didn't." Gibbs replied.

"Unfortunately, you are the person who has been living in close quarters with the boy, so I need to keep you under observation for a while." Ducky pushed Gibbs down onto an autopsy table much to the man's protesting.

"I'm fine-" Gibbs was cut off as Ducky snatched an alcohol swab and yanked Gibbs' sleeve up. Before he knew it, Ducky had jabbed a needle into him and sent off some blood samples off to Abby.

"Wait till Abigail gives us the results then I will release you if you are indeed 'fine'." Ducky tutted, as Gibbs' phone bleeped.

"Gibbs." Gibbs picked up with his standard greeting.

"Yo Boss, I was wondering where you got to. Is Alex okay?" DiNozzo's voice could be heard at the end of the line.

"No, DiNozzo, he is not okay! Duck thinks there has been some bio attack. We're waiting for the results." Gibbs informed DiNozzo.

"Tony, what's going on?" Ziva's voice could be heard in the background. Gibbs could hear Tony repeating what he said.

"All right, we'll be down there." Tony hung up. Moments later, Tony, Ziva and McGee were gathered outside the doors.

"If you want to come in, wear a mask!" Ducky shouted over the klaxon. "We don't need this pathogen to spread even further." The trio hastily complied before jogging in.

"Holy crap, he looks like he has the plague." Tony sympathised as he glanced at the still figure huddled up underneath the coats.

"Indeed, Tony. According to McGee, you looked even worse when you had it." Ziva curled an arm around her boyfriend's waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

"No kidding." Tony murmured behind his mask, stroking his girlfriend's hair. Just then, Ducky's phone beeped.

"Alright, very well. I shall open the door. Wear a mask, Abigail dear." Ducky flipped a switch and the doors opened to reveal Abby.

"Abby! Are you alright?" McGee asked, giving her a hug.

"Sure Tim, I gotta get this to Ducky." Abby hugged him back and handed the clipboard to Ducky.

"My, my, tularemia? Dear lord." Ducky gasped, collapsing into a chair. "I haven't seen that in a long time."

"Tularemia? Dr Mallard, we learned about it in Med School, and standard protocol indicates that we isolate everyone and everything that could have been infected with the disease." Jimmy piped up informatively.

"Yes, we learned about tularemia in our Mossad training." Ziva cut in.

"Well, Mr Palmer, you can be the leading ME for this case." Ducky declared. Everyone nodded in agreement, whist Jimmy blushed with pride.

"Thank you, Doctor." Jimmy gave him a large hug, which Ducky happily returned.

"That's all well and good, but the question is, where the heck did he pick up such a thing?" Abby questioned.

* * *

><p>Hey sorry, Jeanne here. Finals are next week, and FFN has been a pain and not let me get on (Error 102) but thats resolved. I'm sooooo sorry for the late update, and I hope this chapter was good. Tnxxxxxxxx Apologies again<p>

xx

Jeanne


	8. Chapter 8

"A very interesting question indeed, Abigail my dear." Ducky replied to Abby.

"Well? Do you guys have anything?" Gibbs grumbled.

"Gibbs, you gotta relax. Major Mass Spec is running more tests, such as the strain. The only definite thing I got is the fact that it is tularemia." Abby replied, as Ducky's phone rang again.

"Autopsy." Ducky spoke into the receiver.

"Dr. Mallard, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Director Vance's voice spoke from the other end of the phone.

"Go on."

"My children were both sent home from school. Blood tests identified that they had been infected by tularemia."

"Tularemia? Are you 100% positive about the diagnosis?" Ducky felt his heart sink as he heard.

"Unfortunately, positive. Keep me posted about this. The hospital told me it was an aerosol. Keep me posted." Vance hung up the phone.

"What's up, Duck?" Gibbs queried at Ducky's ashen face.

"The Vance children have it too." Ducky replied. The MCRT were shocked.

"Well that is both good and bad news." Abby replied brightly.

"Abbs, how the heck is that good news?" asked Tony when he recovered from the shock of her saying it was good.

"Well, Tony, now we can narrow down the cause much more. Where was the location of both Alex and the Vance children?" Abby asked rhetorically.

"The restaurant last night!" Ziva cut in triumphantly. "We can check personnel files, and ask Alex if anything was amiss."

"Precisely. Now did anyone notice anything last night?" Abby replied.

"Hey, some waitress spilt an entire cup of Alex's tea and replaced it. It was steaming hot so maybe the aerosol could have been in the fumes." McGee pointed out.

"Well, that's a start. Let's wait for Alex to wake up before we ask him questions. McGee, you and DiNozzo put out a BOLO. Ziva, you're the tularemia expert. Find out where it's been produced or sold. You get Abbs. Move it." Gibbs exited autopsy.

* * *

><p><em>Some hours later...<em>

"Hey Boss, got a hit on the BOLO. McGee's description matched Jenna Henderson, one of Colman's roommates. She worked as a model before getting arrested for drug charges. She has many contacts in the cartels in Mexico. Brown hair, five foot ten, Caucasian. Originally Argentinean-American." Tony read off a notepad that he held.

"Good. This probably means that the Reynosa Cartel have something to do with this. They were caught selling bio-weapons sometime ago. I'll go and relieve Ziva. DiNozzo, you get Duck and Palmer and head over to Bethesda. Ziva's coming with me. We're taking Henderson in for custody.. McGee, DiNozzo'll swap with you in an hour. I want an agent outside his door at all times." Gibbs and Tony headed down to the basements, where Abby's and Ducky's were located.

* * *

><p>"Gibbs, what are we doing? I thought I was helping Abby." Ziva queried as the pair left the basement and headed off to the parking lot.<p>

"We're going to arrest Jenna Henderson, Colman's neighbour." Gibbs replied, tossing the car keys to Ziva, who caught them deftly.

"Why?" Ziva inquired as the pair got into the elevator.

"Henderson was working with Colman. She was the waitress at the restaurant, who poisoned Alex." Gibbs said curtly. Ziva nodded, not speaking as she was lost in thought.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, Gibbs and Ziva arrived at the Henderson Residence.<p>

"Knock or break?" Ziva enquired as she slipped her hand to her gun.

"Knock. I'll go to the back." Gibbs whispered as Ziva rang the doorbell.

"Hey, how can I help you?" Annie Ray, Jenna's roommate answered the door.

"I'm looking for Miss Henderson." Ziva replied politely, taking in the girl's messy attire.

"Kay. Jen, there's some woman at the door lookin' for ya!" Annie yelled. A faded 'in a minute' was heard.

"Sorry, she's in da showa. She'll be a while. Come in I suppose." Ziva walked into the house upon command. What she saw nearly made her eyes pop out of her head. The walls were dirty, floor strewn with possessions. Chandeliers displayed copious amounts of lingerie, and everywhere seemed to be an overflowing amount of alcohol.

"Ma'am, do you have guests?" Ziva indicated the bottles.

"Ehh? Nah, that's just mine." Annie drawled, grabbing a bottle of half-drank cheap liquor and chugging it down. Ziva stared at the drunk woman, shocked. She was in the _military _and here she was, drunk as an ox. Ziva couldn't see how she had been accepted.

"Oh yeah, I love my drinks." Annie reached up for a huge bottle of peach Schnapps as she saw Ziva's pointed look. The sounds of wet footsteps padding across carpet made Ziva turn.

Jenna Henderson stood in front of Ziva wearing a bathrobe and a cigar in her mouth. But, the oddest thing was, she had a large streak of blood and a knife stuck in her hip.

"Hey, y'all!" Jenna gulped a bottle of ready-made margarita, before she noticed the knife.

"Jenn!" Annie squealed, the bottle of Schnapps forgotten as she rushed to aid her friend.

"Do not remove the knife until the EMTs get here. I am calling 911 now!" Ziva shouted. But Annie ignored her warning, and snatched the knife out of the woman's body.

"What an idiot." Ziva muttered under her breath as she yanked off her burgundy jacket and applied it to the wound, putting pressure on it.

"Why didn't you listen to her? Did you want your roommate to die?" Gibbs yelled, dialling 911. "Hi, we have a casualty here. Knife wound, quite deep. Get to it!"

"I didn't here, ok? Reeelax. Have some Schnapps." Annie laughed drunkenly.

"Ziva! When the EMTs get here, get this one to Bethesda for a full detoxing for alcohol poisoning or whatever. I want her completely sober when we interrogate her." Gibbs commanded, as the sound of wailing sirens could be heard outside the house. Gibbs dragged Annie to the car as the EMTs tended to the woman. Tossing her jacket on the floor, Ziva jumped into the car after her boss and his captive.

"Ya know, its only 15.99 if ya wanna sleep with me." Annie slurred. Gibbs sighed; this was going to be a long drive.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, Jeanne back. Sorry I couldn't write for a while but the internet went down, then FFN got blocked and it took me this long to install a web unblocker. I think this story might be abandoned soon because it really isn't interesting for me to write anymore. I'm so sorry. I will still write, but just very sparingly.<strong>


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